Why Your Restaurant Needs a Direct Online Ordering System

If you’re a restaurateur who's been relying on third-party delivery platforms and shelling out ridiculous amounts on commissions and whatnot, to merely stay afloat in the throng of competition, you may have wondered if there is any light at the end of the tunnel? The truth is that your restaurant's online ordering system is waiting at the end of the tunnel to help you stand out in a crowd.

What Made Restaurants Choose Aggregators?

When the pandemic battered its way into our lives, one thing was certain - everyone was gravely unprepared to deal with the situation at hand. The economic and social turmoil spawned by the pandemic was devastating in every sense; businesses, schools, colleges, offices, restaurants, malls, and everything else shut down overnight and the world pivoted on its axis.

With social distancing becoming the new normal, people took to the comfort of their own homes.

And then it happened. Dining out was disrupted by ordering in.

Even since the online ordering industry has taken a meteoric leap, but there are always challenges that accompany the metamorphosis of a key market trend like restaurants going online for example.

Although this appeared to be a lifeline for many restaurants at first glance, who were at this point looking to catch a breath from the rampage of the pandemic, there were more problems piling up for restaurateurs.

Restaurants were rapidly scrambling to partner with third-party online ordering platforms and aggregators, without seemingly better options at hand. With little or no knowledge of the market landscape, this hasty decision was quickly replaced with the realization that the restaurant's online ordering system was turned into a cut-throat, hostile environment by aggregators. As a result, restaurants ventured into uncertainty, with bleak chances of survival.

It’s not just the pandemic and aggregators that catapulted restaurants into taking the online route but even technology recalibrated to meet the changing consumer demands, hence pushing restaurant businesses further out of their comfort zone. This drove restaurants to explore previously uncharted territory, providing them with a ray of hope.

Restaurant Online Ordering System Vs. Third Party Aggregators

With time, restaurants realized that their best bet at crossing the hurdles that surround online ordering was to switch from aggregators to their own direct ordering journey. But there are some who have fallen deep into the trap.

If you're a restaurant owner who’s still grappling to make ends meet because you chose to fall into the aggregator trap, chances are you're at a crossroads right now.

There are many more reasons that you as a restaurant owner are likely to be inclined towards getting your own online restaurant food ordering system in a bid to become more independent.

A struggling restaurateur is not something you’d like to add to your resume. I can completely relate to what you're experiencing - it's not an ideal situation to feel out of options and neither is it easy being on the fence. But the awareness about how third-party aggregators are hampering your restaurant business could be a deciding factor. When it comes to taking a call between your restaurant’s own online ordering system and aggregators, there are various aspects that place a restaurant's online ordering system ahead in the race.

Although it may seem like aggregators can get you a significant volume of orders, there are hardly any other tangible perks that they offer. In fact, when I analyze why online restaurant food ordering systems are leaving a mark today and overtaking the aggregators, here are some reasons I could specifically pinpoint:

Higher Cost and Lower Profit Margin

For starters, with your own direct online food ordering system, as a restaurant, you hold on to your profits and skip paying high commission charges to third-party platforms. Where on the one hand, third-party middlemen seem to be getting you the orders you need, on the other hand, you're being drained of your hard-earned revenue that is pocketed by middlemen. This means your operational costs are tipping towards the higher side, thereby reducing your profit margin with all those big bucks wasted away on commissions.

No Engagement with Customers

A huge disadvantage of choosing a third-party aggregator over your restaurant’s own online ordering system is that you forfeit any possibility of connecting or engaging with your customers. Since your orders are being routed to the third-party website as opposed to your own channels, you’re losing out on a large database of customers that could have been yours. And without any head or toe about who these customers are, there is absolutely no way to engage with such customers.

No Customer Insights

It goes without saying, if you’re unable to engage customers, you have no way of even knowing who orders from you or any other key insights about your customers that could support you in refining your customer experience for the better. This becomes a roadblock for you as a restaurant owner, especially if you ever decide to stick to aggregators rather than invest in your restaurant’s online ordering system.

Benefits Of Direct Online Ordering System for Restaurants

With a deeper understanding of how direct ordering can even the playing field in your favor, should come as a huge relief to restaurant owners who were conflicted so far. Third-party platforms may have been a temporary solution but with your own online restaurant food ordering system, you're presented with a more stable and permanent alternative.

You’ll be glad to know that direct ordering comes with a whole lot of advantages for restaurants who want to make the switch to direct online ordering.

More Sales, Higher Profit Margin and Faster Business Growth

The best restaurant online ordering system would come with an upper hand, for instance, there is no middleman involved and you don't have to sweat the commissions either. You can save a lot on commissions and eventually expand your profit margin. This will leave you with quite a bit of spare money to reinvest in growing your business.

Clients working with Radyes have been able to grow their revenue after bypassing food aggregators who were charging them 10 to 40% commission on each order!

Seamless Dine-in and Takeout Order Processing

Although aggregators may be able to get your restaurant online orders, they have no hold on dine in and takeout orders whatsoever. In fact, middlemen have no feasible way to actually track dine-in and takeout orders or even process such orders. Realistically speaking, it’s highly unlikely that you can stay on top of all your orders - online and offline. This is where having your own online restaurant food ordering system can come in nifty.

Radyes hands restaurants the unrestricted freedom to take charge of their orders, and their brand itself which in turn creates an opportunity for seamless order processing all across.

Improve Customer Experience

The best restaurant online ordering systems guarantee a far superior customer experience because unlike aggregators, with your own direct online ordering system, that provides you customer-centric insights, you’re not left wondering what your customers want or what it is they’re looking for.

Radyes has enabled several restaurants to mold their brand as they saw fit, empowering them to enrich their customer experience with access to key user data, taking the first step towards creating a seamless customer experience.

New Opportunities for Growth with In-Depth Customer Data

One of the biggest problems with routing your orders via third-party aggregators is that you’re left without consumer insights, and this is a real issue especially if you have any hopes of growing your restaurant business.

It is unimaginable to grasp the gamut of growth you can experience as a restaurant, only if you can dig into the goldmine of customer insights that should ideally be available to you as a restaurant owner. Unfortunately, no aggregator would give you this data. Fortunately, the best restaurant online ordering systems in the market would.

Numerous restaurants have leveraged customer insights successfully as Radyes opened the door to expansion and growth opportunities for these restaurants. The possibilities are limitless!

Enhanced Order Accuracy

Oftentimes, there is a lapse in order taking that can lead to far worse consequences for your restaurant business, even more so if you’re dependent on a manual ordering system such as taking orders over the phone or in person. You could even be relying on an aggregator, who is surely not going to take responsibility for your order mishaps. Exactly why you’re better off having an online restaurant food ordering system that awards you complete authority over every touchpoint of the ordering process.

With an automated tool in place like Radyes, there is zero room for error. On an average, restaurants have experienced a 5x increase in order volume using Radyes, with their orders being fulfilled more efficiently.

Why Choose Radyes as Your Restaurant’s Online Ordering System?

If there isn't enough reason already, let me give you some more. Radyes is a complex ecosystem that is meant to simplify your operations and ordering process. Additionally, it also allows you to:

Integrate Online Ordering Menu to Social

With Radyes, you can integrate your digital storefront or your menu onto your social media channels and get started with your social commerce journey.

Get Direct Orders from Anywhere

Radyes can help you generate orders on any platform - be it Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, anywhere!

Gain In-Depth Customer Insights

One of the unique selling points of Radyes is its ability to leverage the goldmine of customer data and intelligently spin it towards the growth of your business.

Maximize Growth

Radyes is essentially an end-to-end solution that arms you with the complete package - right from order generation to point-of-sale, delivery fulfillment and a whole lot of other solutions! It is tailored to give your restaurant the edge that it needs as you grow your restaurant business by staying on top of your customer journey.

All these advantages position Radyes as a game changer in the direct ordering market and I can confidently vouch for its efficacy, that is rebuilding the very grounds on which the direct ordering landscape stands. If that's not all, Radyes has empowered hundreds of restaurants on their direct ordering journey, building an avenue for growth.

Where To Get Started?

Radyes is much more than just the average restaurant online ordering system and is an all-in-one solution for every problem you encounter along the way as a restaurant owner. With access to plausibly the best restaurant online ordering system there is, you can expect your restaurant business to take off and prosper. Book a demo with Radyes and discover its multifold advantages for your restaurant business right away!